SECTION IV: G. BRASILIENSE 313 



affirm that without that action the industry would have taken a much 

 longer time than it did to assume importance. 



Heuz6 (I.e. 141) says that in Egypt to-day the cotton generally Jumel 

 called Jumel's belongs to the series with fuzzy seeds. (Does Heuz6 cotton * 

 here allude to the Hindi Weed ' ?) He there at all events seems 

 to express the popular opinion, but adds his own view : namely, that 

 the plant brought by Jumel to Egypt belonged to the series with 

 black naked seeds, and was the same as the cotton of Bahia, which, he 

 adds, they still cultivate in Egypt. He thus apparently held the 

 view here set forth that it was G. brasiliense. (Cf. remarks above 

 under G. peruvianum, pp. 219-20.) 



A remark made by Foaden seems to have a direct bearing on the 

 issue here raised ; speaking of the origin of the varieties of cotton 

 grown in Egypt he says : ' All that can be asserted with safety is 

 that out of the varieties existing in the country " ashmouni " cotton 

 was evolved, and of the varieties at present cultivated in Egypt this 

 is the oldest." Thus the belief seems to be entertained that Jumel's 

 cotton was crossed by the so-called indigenous stock, the result 

 being the evolution of the present stocks. (See pp. 219, 223.) 



India. It may now be useful to give in conclusion the Indian 

 experience. It can almost be said that every decade or so, for the 

 past century, some one has announced a discovery of the greatest 

 importance, viz. a truly wild tree cotton with a long silky staple. In 

 most cases the plant of these discoveries has been G. brasiliense. 

 Indian writers usually, however, speak of G. brasiliense as a culti- 

 vated plant, or one found in the vicinity of cultivation. Still for the 

 reasons given (were speculation permissible) it might be affirmed 

 that it had been recorded in a more complete state of acclimatisation 

 in Africa than anywhere else. Hove collected it, however, in Gujarat Met with 

 in 1787, but does not say whether wild or cultivated. His specimens Gujarat, 

 may be seen in the British Museum. Macpherson (' Hist. Europ. 

 Com. with Ind.,' 1812, pp. 40, 389) deals with the cotton trade of 

 India, and observes that cotton ' has lately been introduced with 

 remarkable success in the southern territories of the United States of 

 America, and that great quantities are brought from Brazil and the 

 Levant.' This may perhaps be accepted as showing the close con- 

 nection that existed between India and South America during the 

 period of the East India Company's greatest prosperity. ' Of late 

 the vast demand for cotton in Great Britain has enriched all the 

 countries which produce that important raw material, and among the 



